The Weekly T2 Challenge
Challenge yourself every week to be the best version of yourself! Team Challenge Every Week!
This week's challenge is in concert with our MasterClass topic. It's all about foot speed and reducing ground contact times. Your challenge is to practice turning on transient stiffness in your foot when it hit the ground, such that it snaps down and pops off the support surface rapidly. This takes some practice but it really works.
Weekly Challenge 2024-06-24
This week's challenge is interesting, to say the least. It's a potential shopping assignment. Check to make sure your running shoes are in good shape. We're going to be doing quite a bit of track training over the next few months, and you'll need some good shoes. That's a topic we can discuss in greater detail, but if you know "your shoe" consider getting a new pair for our upcoming workouts.
Last week we had the objective of meeting some time limits during those sustained power output sandbag lifts. This week is a little different. We are going to task ourselves with making Workout C a success. This means a little extra planning and scheduling is in order to find a swimming venue, plan a hike from there, get some peeps involved, and pack a picnic. While this might sound esoteric, these sessions have ALWAYS been highlights of our groups around the country and you won't be sorry. It's worth the extra effort. You could even think of this as more of a celebration than a challenge, but give it your best shot to make it happen.
This week's challenge is all about the Sandbags and the SUSTAINED POWER OUTPUT exercises in the primary section of Workout A.
OK...this is a big one. We are going to be establishing a baseline in aerobic power output. As you know, we're in the Power Block, and power has both an anaerobic (explosive) and aerobic (stamina) component.
This week's challenge is twofold. First, make sure your Drag Rig is ready to go and working perfectly. Second, send me a short video clip of you kicking ass on the field with your rig in Member Submissions.
Cold, or even just cool, plunges are a big part of our summer training. Start thinking about possible places you can scope out for a dip, especially after a workout. Oceans, bays, lakes, rivers, and streams are fantastic. However, even if you just hit your tub, shower, or garden hose...you can get the benefits of cold water immersion/exposure.
This week's challenge is an artful one. It's not about pure effort. It's more about the skillful application of relaxed power. RUN A TRUE 95% EFFORT IN ONE 40-YARD DASH THIS WEEK.
Ok...this week I'm challenging you to hit a full 3 sessions of Workout A. Last week we were fairly casual, saying just get rolling. Now this week we want that consistency and volume. We won't push it too hard yet, but it's a real dedication to get these workouts into the books. Good luck. I know you will crush it.
This week's challenge might seem obvious, but it's essential for our athletic identity. What kind of Lifetime Athlete are you? Your answer is correct no matter what you say. Do you have a sport or fitness passion that defines what you do, and maybe a little of who you are (its OK to think this way despite what you hear)? See yourself as a robust, resilient, versatile and durable athlete for LIFE. Sometimes this is a real challenge when we're tired, injured, depressed, or just a little beat down. Rally. We've got each other's backs. The athletic life is for everyone.
This is perhaps one of our greatest challenges. RESIST THE URGE TO DO MORE THIS WEEK. Trust the system. Trust your talent. There is a time to go hard. But there is also a time to go easy, and it's this week. Deloading is an art form in which we reduce total workload. The body rebounds to a new, higher level of conditioning (as long as you've been fairly consistent with the programming). Hold back a little this week and you'll be pleased and surprised.
This is not a tax day item. It's a suggestion to add a locomotion experience to your week, in addition to all regular training. You don't have to go hard, just get out and ambulate for a while. This is always good for health, but it also builds the connective tissue durability we're going to need as we move into field-based power training. We will start easy, but having some durability in your legs and feet will help to make your experience more enjoyable with less risk of injury. Explosive movements and change of direction work are coming and we need to be ready. Training ballistically is fun, but we really must "earn the right to train" in that manner.
This week our challenge is to take a look at sleep quality. In the first few minutes after you wake up and get going, ask yourself how you feel. If you feel rested, refreshed, and awesome, your sleep was great and it is a green day. If you are decent and average, it's yellow. But if it's achey, exhausted, or sick, that's a red day. Just tune into your awareness and we can work on the improvements later.
Stay focused on the Block. This is the 3rd and final month of Strength and Hypertrophy training emphasis. Now that spring is here, it's tempting to just start going willy nilly with all sorts of activities and blow off your workouts. Don't. A little variety is fine, but stay true to the system. It will pay huge dividends moving forward.
We've been using easy cycling, specifically Zone 2 cardio, quite a bit this month. This week, be sure to go nice and easy in these applications, keeping HR at or below 180 minus your age. This ensures good aerobic system development while maximizing recovery as we deload.
Weekly Challenge 2024-03-18
This week's challenge may seem simple on "paper" and it actually is. Get two bonus 5-mile walks into your week, at any time of your liking. As a functional human, the 5-mile continuous walk (or hike) is a minimum requirement. But there are so many incredible benefits. Metabolic regulation, parasympathetic stimulation, and Zone 1 recovery cardio are just a few of those goodies you'll give yourself. And, if you are jamming on body composition optimization, you'll be amazed at how these walks help you to burn more fat while not breaking down your muscle mass. Ramble on!
This week's challenge is definitely not to be overlooked. You are tasked with "really exploring RIR." Based on popular opinion in the training community, many people don't really push hard enough in their resistance training sets. Of course, such behavior always needs to include good form and wise judement, but ask yourself on that last set in the primary if you truly only have 1 rep left in the tank. A great challenge indeed.
This week's challenge is all about The Earth-Based Diet 30 Day Challenge. Print out your meal planing sheet, fill it out, and put it on your refrigerator! You can download the document in the linked article.
This week's challenge is an interesting one. In addition to the regular weekly workout programming, treat yourself to an easy, low impact hour of aerobic exercise. Use any mode and stay in Zone 1-2. This is very helpful during our recovery week.
We've got a fun challenge this week. After you complete all your primary and accessory lifts in Workout C, treat yourself to the following:
An AMRAP Challenge! Nothing like a little AMRAP finale! It's only 25% BW, but you have to bang out 30 squats in a minute. If I was Rick James I'd say "Give it to me, baby!" But since I'm not, just give yourself the gift of excellence.
Do your best to get all 6 workouts done this week.
Get thee some Iron! You'll notice the feather duster in the video. Trying to gain strength and mass with that is difficult, if not impossible. Do your best to get some iron, or heavy bands, for this next block when we load up with resistance training. If you need some ideas around space and budget, reach out to me and I'll be glad to help. Hit a text in the Member Submissions. We always have each other's backs at TLA.